By Nancy D’Souza & Namrata Kamath

Two of our biggest pet peeves in the UAE restaurant scene are the price of drinking water, and the fact that some restaurants chose to only stock imported brands that are exorbitantly priced. In November 2019, we were ecstatic when we read the news that restaurants in Dubai will be offering free tap water from 2020 onwards, as per new guidelines in the Dubai Food Code. This was aimed at giving customers the choice of free water, but also to cut down on plastic waste.

This misinformation was clarified two days later when the authorities said “The Food Code says nothing about making tap water mandatory in hotels and restaurants. Tap water can be consumed as drinking water if the following steps are taken: Water tanks and pipes system should be well maintained, cleaning and flushing should be done by a company approved by the Emirates International Accreditation Centre, and samples should be collected and tested for drinking water parameters in a laboratory approved by the Emirates International Accreditation Centre and should be found satisfactory.”

That joy was short lived. 

Tom & Serg in Al Quoz was one of the first restaurants we found serving free drinking water to customers when it opened in 2013. It was such a refreshing change, a common practice in other parts of the world and a trend we wished caught on in the rest of the UAE. A few number of restaurants have since started offering free filtered water to customers, but not enough to make a difference.

The price of bottled drinking water is anywhere from AED 1 to AED 30 or upwards, depending on the brand you purchase and where from. Competition is rife with local brands such as Masafi, Oasis, Al Ain, PepsiCo taking a huge percent of the share. According to industry reports, the UAE bottled water market is driven by an increasing urban population with a high number of expatriates, increased tourism and, and surge in demand for fortified and flavoured water. As per International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the UAE is the thirstiest country in the region due to high temperatures driving the bottled water market. A 2020 study by EcoMENA showed that a typical UAE resident uses 450 plastic water bottles on average in a year, making the UAE the fourth-highest bottled water consumer in the world.

In this current climate, such numbers are alarming. Expo 2020 is one of the most awaited events on the UAE’s calendar and the theme of the event this year is sustainability, which is being integrated into all aspects of the event. It is then no surprise that the topic of water – from conservation and clean oceans to sanitation and food security – will be at the forefront.

Sustainability is the future and joining in on the action, beverage dispensing companies are leading the charge to help reduce waste. Exciting new technologies we are looking forward to seeing at the upcoming Expo are dedicated to offering filtration systems for treated drinkable tap water. This means no more plastic but technologically advanced re-use methods of refilling. It will be available in the form of room temperature, cold, regular, and sparkling. Such systems will help bring water back to basics, encouraging local consumption, without the hassle of plastic waste - benefiting both, the environment and consumers.